VOLUNTEER COMMENTS

Would I be willing to do this again?

Just name the time and place. I loved it. I liked the fact that you gave us a goal, directions to reach the goal and tools to reach that goal.

I think I actually reached a few kids, and that is good.

This was a great experience for me. I came away very enthused about the concept. Thanks for letting me get involved.

I was paired up with another volunteer. I think it went very well. I look forward to doing this again.

I took a class by myself and had an awesome time.

This was a wonderful experience. I was scheduled to be an observer, but ended up being the speaker.

I am glad to know that I work for a company that supports this program and recognizes its importance.

I did not have anything planned, so I played it by ear and it worked great. I just shared my experience and asked the students lots of questions. I look forward to my next visit.

Volunteers are the key to the success of YMTF. The more volunteers we have, the more students we reach. Speaking to the students is an extremely gratifying experience as illustrated by one volunteer's note that "A few students personally thanked me for taking the time out of my day to speak to them." (more volunteer comments) Student feedback like "Now I really wanna finish high school." make the effort worth every minute (more student feedback).

First time volunteers are scheduled as observers, but often they become so involved they end up participating in the discussions. Over the years we have developed a visit overview and speaker tips which are useful for the novice volunteer.

If you are already one of our YMTF volunteers, we thank you. The "Related Links" page contains links to statistical data and charts which you may find very useful during your presentations, especially the Education vs Annual Earnings vs Unemployment chart published by the US Bureau of Labor Statistcs.

If you are even remotely interested in being a volunteer, please contact us.

VISIT OVERVIEW

YMTF is looking for people who would go into the classroom to talk to students about the value of high school education. We have no set plan that we want you to follow, but we do have some data on cost-of-living and economic value of a high school diploma.

We put a new volunteer into a classroom with another person, or a new person could volunteer to be an observer and not speak at all. The observer could just see what YMTF is all about.

We ask volunteers to try to make 2 visits a semester. Each visit takes about 3 hours of your time, from leaving home to the school and returning to your desk at work. We try to car pool. It is more fun that way and saves people getting lost.

A typical visit schedule consists of:
8:00 AM - Arrive at school and register.
8:20 AM - Welcome to school by principal and/or on campus YMTF coordinator.
8:40 AM - Review of YMTF program and materials available for classroom use.
9 AM - Start classroom visit.
10 AM - Reconvene in assembly area to review visit, read student and teacher forms, and fill out volunteer form.
10:20 AM - Depart for work.

In the classroom, you will notice that few students talk, particularly at the high school level. This is due to the fact that you are a stranger and the class room size is usually slightly large for good interaction. Some volunteers will do almost anything to get students to interact. Some just lecture unless there is an obvious student with whom to interact.

You will begin to wonder if this is worthwhile, since it seems that the students are not listening to you. That is why we have the students fill out a survey form just before the end of the class. When you get a chance to read them, immediately after class in the assembly area, you will see that the students are listening and you may have convinced a few students that day to stay in school. It is a great feeling.

Because many people are nervous about speaking in front of a crowd, particularly younger people, we offer the observer status. Observers can just sit in on a class room visit and are not expected to participate. Since most of the discussion is about things we know, i.e., how we live, how much we spend to live and how we make that money for living, most observers have eventually contributed to the classroom discussion.

Volunteering is not an absolute commitment. Do not worry, if at the last minute, something comes up and you can not make it. It happens to us all.